


Rose Tint My World

by ehvul_butterfly (summerbutterfly)



Series: The Best of Advent 2010 [1]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Advent Challenge 2010, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-06
Updated: 2010-12-06
Packaged: 2017-10-13 13:15:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/137778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/summerbutterfly/pseuds/ehvul_butterfly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shunsui discovers that Nanao is secretly a fan of his romance novel <i>Rose-colored Path</i>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rose Tint My World

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Elle_Marchpane](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elle_Marchpane/gifts).



> Written for Day #3 of the 2010 Advent Challenge at Livejournal. I do not own Bleach, and the _Shinigami Women's Romance Digest_ is consistent only with my own headcanon.

“Nanao? Nanao my sweet, where are you hiding?” Captain Shunsui Kyoraku breezed through his barracks, searching for his elusive lieutenant. “Darling Nanao, you know I love a good game of hide and seek, but unfortunately, we have business we must attend to!”

He took a sip of sake from his cup. It was chilly outside today, and the Seireitei Communication had mentioned something about a chance of snow later on. He’d have to remember to light the fireplaces if it did, but for now, the alcohol was enough to cut the slight chill as he continued his quest.

“Nanao! Precious, you’re starting to worry me, here,” he called. “Where are you, my dear?”

It was unlike Nanao not to respond to him. It was even more unlike her not to have intercepted the Hell Butterfly that had been carrying the news of their orders and come to find him herself.

“Perhaps she’s busy,” he mused. “Maybe she’s still catching up on her paperwork from yesterday?”

But she wasn’t in her office. And she wasn’t in her room. And she wasn’t even in the small library he’d built for her out of the former third seat’s office. It was all very perplexing, and Captain Kyoraku felt the need to sit down and ponder this over another cup of sake just outside his office door.

His office door that just so happened to ajar.

Intrigued, the captain crept over. Peeping through the small crack between the edge of the door and the doorjamb, his eyes lit up on his sweet, precious Nanao, sitting at his desk completely absorbed in a stack of hand-written papers. Her expression was one of enraptured awe, and when she turned the page, she did so with bright-eyed anticipation.

“Oh ho ho,” Kyoraku chuckled. “There you are you little minx.” He let her read through to the end of the stack before straightening up and sashaying inside. “Nanaooooo,” he called. “Nanao, I find you at last!”

Nanao jumped, dropping the stack of documents all over the floor. “C...captain! She stuttered. “Sir! I’ve been looking for you everywhere. Did you know we had...”

“Orders from the Central 46? Yes, I got them.” He sauntered over to where Nanao sat, flushed and flustered. “I’ve been looking for you as well. Imagine you’ve been here all this time.” He waggled eyebrows at his lieutenant, who pursed her lips and looked away.

“I thought you’d be working,” she said, and oh how lovely she was when she blushed. “But then when you weren’t at your desk, I assumed you couldn’t have gone far, so I sat down to wait and...”

“And you decided reading would be a good way to pass the time?”

Nanao’s blush was fierce. “I...I thought it was yesterday’s reports, sir.”

“Ah Nanao, no need to be shy.” Kyoraku bent and retrieved the scattered papers. “Curiosity is not a bad thing. However, I don’t usually file my reports under the title _Rose Colored Path_ , which I believe you know.”

Nanao could not have looked more chagrined if she tried.

“Either way, I see you got through everything. So I must know. What did you think?”

“S...sir?”

“Is it romantic? Believable? Ukitake enjoyed it, but then again, he enjoys pickled seaweed too, so I’m not sure if I trust his taste.”

“I’m afraid I don’t understand you, sir.”

“Nanao, Nanao,” Kyoraku sighed. He seated himself on the edge of the desk. The papers he sat in his lap so he could re-arrange them into their proper numerical order. “If I am to keep my weekly spot in the _Shinigami Women’s Romance Digest_ I need honest feedback, so please. Let us discuss.”

“Sir...”

Kyoraku lay down on the desk in front of Nanao and began to read.

 _“...His precious Flower trembled in his arms, her eyes wide with her desire. “Oh Ukaroyk! You have saved me yet again from dangers untold and hardships unnumbered. Let me repay you by allowing you to share my bedchamber!’”_ Kyoraku looked up. “Too forward?”

Scarlet-cheeked, Nanao buried her face in her hands. “Sir, this is really inappropriate.”

Kyoraku waved her concerns away and continued. _“The bold and handsome Ukaroyk brushed his fingers against his Flower’s rose-petal lips. ‘I would be honored, my beloved. Honored to not only share your bed, but to explore the hills and valleys and pearls of your womanhood. Hills, valleys and pearls that no man has explored before me! I cannot wait to lose myself in your luscious femininity, your sensual curvature, your delightfully tight...’”_

_”Sir!”_

“Yes?” Kyoraku flashed her an indulgent grin.

Nanao huffed for a moment, then folded her hands in her lap and looked away. “I think hills and valleys _and_ pearls might be a bit of an overkill. Perhaps you should just pick one.”

“Ah yes, yes.” Kyoraku reached for a pen, making a notation on the line. “A very astute observation, Nanao. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, sir.”

“Shall we continue?”

“I thought we had orders, sir.”

“We do, we do. But when forced to choose between orders and art, I’m afraid I have to go with the latter. Besides, my deadline is coming up and if I don’t turn this in, all my loyal readers will be so unhappy.”

Nanao gave a long-suffering sigh. “Isn’t there someone else you could get to edit with you, Captain?”

“I’m afraid not, Nanao. As you are obviously my biggest fan, I absolutely must have your feedback before I submit this next installment.” Kyoraku settled himself, preparing to return to his recitation. “By the way, what do you think of the title? _Rose Colored Path_ work for you?”

Nanao paused, brow furrowing for a long moment before her expression relaxed and she simply sighed. “I really like it,” she admitted. “It really captures the essence of the romantic journey that Ukaroyk and Flower go on together.”

Kyoraku beamed. “I couldn’t agree more,” he said. “So you’ve read the other published bits then?”

Nanao was so pink, she could have been a rose petal herself. “Every word, sir,” she confessed. “Every word.”


End file.
